Cord Blood Banking
Doctors recently clarified the effectiveness of cord blood banking and warned against the limitations of commercial establishments for such service.
Cord Blood Banking
Cord blood banking service provides for storage of the cord blood derived from the umbilical cord and placenta of the baby after birth. This is stored as a source of hematopoietic stem cells. These stem cells can be used for treating various conditions like cancers of the blood via stem cell therapy.
Stem Cells
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the capacity to differentiate into a wide variety of mature cells with specific functions. Stem cells are of 2 types: embryonic and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are found only in the blastocyst stage of the embryo while the adult stem cells are found in both young and adult individuals.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a medical condition or disease. Till date, the hematopoietic stem cell therapy or HSCT is the only established type of stem cell therapy. It is used for treating diseases like leukaemia. The stem cells are being researched for healing damaged tissue and treating cardiovascular and neurodegenerative conditions.
